Improvement in sewing-machines



C. R. GARDNER.

Sewing Machine Patented Sept. 9, 1856.

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' 'Fig. 2, a front View with the needle up. Figs. 3 and 4 are sections ofFigs. 1 and 2. Fig. 5 is 1 a section of Fig. 1 from the front back. Fig. 1 6 is a perspective of the thread-guide G. Fig. 7 is a plan of thread-guide G. Fig. Sis asection showing the operation when the plate E is used. Fig. 9 is a section through the feed- .bar and thread-guide in the line 1 2, Fig. 7, showing the operation of the machine in ordinary sewing.

" .parts of the machine, and may be attached to a table or elsewhere by a screw at f, Fig. 5, or .by setting the ropnd pin a horizontallyin a socket provided with a binding-screw, and in the latter case themachine may be turned on (arries the pin 10, which passes through and the post, and on reaching the upper end of f..- UNITED STATES PATENT Oriucn.

oHARLEs a. GARDNER, or DETROIT, 'MIGHIGAN.

LIMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Speciii'cafirin forming part of Letters Patent No. l5,695. dated September 9, 1856.

Be it known. that I, CHAS. R. GARDNER, of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of'Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification.

Figurel is afront view with the needle down;

A is the frame or support of the movable the axis of the pin a, and thus the machine may be adjusted to workthe needle in aplane' at any angle to the horizon, giving a change and variety of position not possessed by any sewingmachine in use. a-may be set in the socket of and at right angles to another round pin, b, which is set in the socket of a support to which it is desired to fasten the machine, both a and b turning on their axes for adj ustment, and when adjusted fastened by binding-screws in the sockets, thus forming a universal joint, 'on which the machine may be easily turned to any position that may be most convenient for the operator at the time, in which respect it differs from other sewing-machines,

The part of A marked D is a guide-post, in the center of which is the guide for the needle N, and on the outside is the guide for the knob K, which slides over the guide-post and (arries .the needle. 1) works in a slot, a, in

the slot the pin 1) strikes and is stopped, thus preventing the further passage of the knob in. that direction. This pin also prevents the turningof the knob and needle bypassing through them and the slot. By the useof two guides all the side strainvis resisted on the outside of the post, and thus the strain and consequent wear are removed from the needleguide, so thatthe needle may be accurately guided when the knob has some play on its guide. Q g i A spring, S, of spiral or other form, maybe used to carry or assist in carrying the knob in either direction, so that sufficient strength of the operator may be used in carrying the. knobin one direction to strain the spring S,which will carry or assist in carrying the knob in the contrary direction. The reciprocating motion may be given to the knob by the hand of the operator; or a cord, H, may be attached to the knob, a loop of which passes to the operators foot, when by setting the machine or passing the cord over a pulley, so as to bring the draft of the cord on the knob in a line with the post, thefoot may be used for giving motion to the knob in one direction and a spring or other force for carrying it in the contrary direction. sewing-machines in the use of thespring just described, and also in communicating the re ciprocating motion to the needle without the use of crank, (am, or eccentric, the rotary This differs from other motion in other sewing machines being in through which it (B) passes. Theknob strikes one of these nuts at the end of each stroke,

and thus carries the feed-rod a short distance,

which is adjusted by the position of the nuts.

The feed-rod is connected with the short arm of the lever. L, the other end of which connects with and actuates the feed-bar F, which slides in a guide. in A, Fig. 5, and is slotted through the middle to admit the passage of the needle. being provided with hooks h h in the face, which hook into and draw along the material The feed-bar differs from others in ing the screw S:

to be fed. The bar may be of wood and small steel tenter-hooks h h used, as represented in red in the left end of the feed-bar, Fig. 9, or

i Fig. 5, which passes through B and earsof A,

extending down on each side of B in the re-.=

gionofh to-form a hinge. The piece G serves asa guide for thethread' and the needlepoint iniis downwa-rd passage,-and also to holdthex The. guide G is adjustable on and fastened to the.

material up'to the hooks of the feedbar.

base B by thebinding-screw g, which passes throughla slot in 'B,Ias seen in Figs. 3 andrt. The distancebetween the faces oftheguide G and thefeed-bar F is adjusted by thethu1nbscrew 1S, theiend' of which bears against A, Fig.5, where it is held-bythe action of thespring S, which inustbe stiff-enough to keep the partsin this position, andxthusprevent en- 1 largingithe space between the pieces Gand F by the action of the needlelin passing through thecloth,' my purpose being not to form a yielding pressure against the cloth but to form an easyiadj-ustment of thedistance (between G and F) for the passage of the material to. be

sewed; andto relieve the parts of the pressure and'c'on'se'quent friction incident to the method or holding the' clothby a yielding pressure, thusleavin'gthe cloth more free for turning .in sewing crooked-seams; It will be seen that the, )ur )ose of thescrew S b turnin which- 1 l 7 y a the-space for 'theipassage of the material is adjusted, is different from'that of the binding- 1 screw used in some sewing-machines for fast-l ening the parts after the space" has :been .ad-: j usted by other means,the inethodrherein de-:

scribed admitting of a nicer adjustment, of

makinga change of space with greater facility,

andof' opening the' space by pressure upon the base'B 'for 'introducingthe cloth without turm shown in Figs. -1 and 3,: and for the more .con; venient inspection of the operation of the needle'andthreadin the passage the portion of: thesepieces in front of the 'passage-areeout;

away, "and forthe same purpose :the passage throughB is much enlarged;

-In'the middle oftheleftkhalf of the faceno-f the'pi'ece Gthere is a'groove,--which may be.

some widerat-the bottom than 011 the face;

The needle-passes through; the middle of G and through 'thebase B, as

ward the needle, and the slide is so adjusted that in the upward passage of the needle its beard a shall strike and be closed in sliding past the beveled end of the slide 0, Fig. 8, so as to pass through the cloth without catching therein. The form .of the piece 0 is not material, and may be greatly varied. The advantage of the adjustable slide to close the beard is apparent, as in changing needles of different sizes there is a necessity of an adjustable means of closing the beard which is not found in other machines. The thread is guided into the needle-passage, through G by a channel, 0, just at the left of the point of the needle on its downward passage, Fig. 9, so asto guide .the thread near to andon the samesideofthe needle as is the bear.d It should. be: remarked that in adjusting the pqw. sition-of the, .pieceG it should be so placed that,

sew-ing,:ordinarily, the thread would without the incline I lie close to the side of the passage 1w m, eFig. ,6, in a line from, C to '0, in which case, by forming the side of the guide G atthev right:- ofthe .needle'in Fig. 5, inclining slightly inthe direction of dotted line t, the pointof the needle may: be made to hug or rake, the .side ore, so inclined in its downward passageras to pass-betweenthat side and .thethregid, U but a more convenient arrangement is to throw the thread. away from the side w w,-so,as,to permit the needle to pass easily between-the thread and the side of the passage, and when, the thread is carried to the left, as in ,F ,8,-

to throw the thread across the track of the beard, so as to be caught thereby-inits up wardpassage. I form an incline, I,,whieh starts from. the top of the piece G and fron the farther side of the needle-passage, 7, and ,9, and, extending both on the lef t,. w and right, 00, of the needle, runs obliquely down in the direction of the line '0, Fig. 5.; The

thread-T, which is represented in-redinthe drawings, being drawn up by the needle nearly; in the line the needle occupies in the figuredi's, when the cloth mis fed along, thereby carried alongin-ordinary sewing toward 00, thus drawr,

ing the thread over the edge formed bythe needle-passage and the incline, and slides fro'nr, 1; down the-incline I, and is thus carried.;away,, from the-side w 00, leaving the-angleat r0 ope forthe; passage of the needle, asshown in Fig; 7 and also in Figs. 6 and 9. This method,of,

guiding, the thread, which is .applicable to fastened so as to have the folding or frontedge I in passing, enter the cloth and carry it along on either side of the needle. It maybe attached by screws toB, and its purpose is to provide an edge over which the cloth in Fig. 8 is folded, to allow the needle to pass through the fold thereof, the edge of E being notched to permit the passage of the needle and thread. This,folding edge differs from the cogs or teeth used in some machines to corrugate the cloth for a running stitch, as on this the folding edge is a single one, by which the clothpasses as it is advanced the length of a stitch, each succeeding stitch being formed over the same edge, and the length of the stitches formed over this single edgeis adjustable. Besides,

the forms of stitch made when it is used are new, all the work formed on both sides of the V cloth when sewed in a machine without the plate being, when the plate is used, formed on one side-that is,the one on the outside of the fold or double. The length of the stroke of I proceed to describe the operation of the machine first for sewing the ordinary chainstitch, for which the plate E is not used, and may be detached. The needle'being drawn up, as in Fig. 2, the base B is pressed down by the hand, by which the spring S is flexed and the space between the feed-bar F and the guide G is opened for introducing the cloth, which being done and the pressure of the hand removed from the base, the spring S, acting upon thebase B, closes the space between the feed-bar and the guide until the point of the screw S strikes the frame A, where the parts remain. The screw S should be so adjusted as to allow "the face of the guide G to make a slight pressure against the cloth to hold it up to the feed-hooks, so that they may operate. The thread may be drawn into the, groove 0, as shown in Fig. 5, when motion I maybe given to the machine in any convenient way. It may be operated by the hand-hold of the knob K by. forcing the knob down, which carries the pin 19, and that the needle N, the point of which passes through the cloth m, Fig. 9, and between the channel 0 and the line 1; 2, Fig. 7, the upper or free end of the beard passing below the thread, and the knob,

when nearlydown, striking the nut n, and thus carrying down the feed-rod R, which moves the lever L, and that the feed-bar F to the left, Figs. 1 and 3. Next the needle is withdrawn by raising the knob, when the beard catches the thread, as in Fig. 8, and then strikes, and in passing the incline of the closing-slide O the free end of the beard is pressed up against the shaft of the needle and thus closed, in which position the needle is withdrawn from the cloth, carrying a loop of the thread with it, and-when the point of the needle is out above the cloth the knob strikes the upper nut, 02, and carries the feed-bar forward, the hooks h h in the .face of which,

the length of a stitch when the pin p reaches the top of the slot a, and thefurther motion of the knob in that direction is stopped in positions shown in Figs. 2 and 4. In feeding thecloth the thread, which was drawn by the needle in nearly a straight line from the thread-channel 'to the point of the needle, is carried by the needle-point passes down between the thread and the side w 00, leaving the loop carried up on the top of the 'cloth and aroundthe shaft of the needle, Fig. 9. ,When fully down, the

beard is open, and in passing up again catches the thread and is closed, and carries the newlycaught loop through the cloth and the previously-formed loop, which slips off the needle as the new one is drawn through it, in the manner of all sewing with bearded and hooked needles, and these operations are repeated for each stitch until the desired work is done. In slipping back the hooks of the feed-bar lose their hold of the cloth, which may then be easily turned for sewing crooked seams.

In using the plate E the cloth m is drawn over the edge thereof by the feed-hooks, and

the needle passes throughthe fold of the cloth m, as shown in Fig. 8, from which it willbe seen that, though the action of the needle is the same, the work produced is quite different from that when the plate is not used, as the thread, instead of being carried by the cloth to the right, is carried to the left, where the action of the incline on that side of the needle also throws the thread out from the side 10 m of Fig. 6 and across the track of the beard in its'upward passage, so that it (the thread) is caught by the beard, as shown'in Fig. 8. It will also be seen that the work of the thread showing on the under side in Fig. 9 is, although formed on the under side of the fold when the plate E is used, still on the same side of the cloth-13.. 6., the outside of thefold-as the loops of the stitch are formed on, I .while on the other side .of the cloth -i. 6., on

the inside of the fold-there will show the double of the thread for every stitch. The

der side of the fold, which would form astitch less liable to ravel. I contemplate applying the plate to other machines, whether'forming I chain or other stitches ordinarily.

In adjusting the position of the machine I prefer to set it so as to sew the cloth lying in a planeobliquely to the horizon andperpendicularly, or nearly so, to the line of vision the foot the spring should be so attached as to of the, operator, directed-to the work when the operator is in a convenient position for run; ning the machine, whereby I obtain a better View of the working of the machine and more easy position for the operator than when the cloth or other material is sewed lying in a carry the knob upward, andbe flexed when the knob is drawn down by the foot. A

5 What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The sharp-pointed needlehaving a flexif ble beard, as herein described, for sewing in I woven,'felted, or other close fabrics, in the manner set forth. l 2. The adjustable slide 0, so arranged as to, close the beardof any sized needle that may be used in the machine.

i The guide 'G,' consisting vof the threadchannel C;and' the needle-passage, with the ;side thereof: either slightly inclined, as described, or provided at the top'with the in-- clined groove I, and so operating that the feed in" proper position that it shall be caught by the hook or beard of the needle, in the manner 5 described.

llent, for the purpose specified. l -f;5 I do not claim running several folds or corrugations on the needle at the same time;

:as is done in machines for sewing with a runiingstitch; nor do I claim sewing along par: allel with the fold, as is done in hemming,

binding, and forming welts, where the length;

of the stitch is parallel with the fold; but I claim sewing with a machine through on'efold or corrugation of the material at a --time,- the cloth being fed along at right angles, or nearly so, to the line of the fold,jsubstantially as-here; ,in'described.

. Witnesses:

JOHN S. HOLLINGSHEAD, JoHN DAVIS.

motion given to the cloth shall carry the thread- 4. The folding plate or its mechanical equiva oHAs. n. GARDNER. 

